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4
5A genre of video games in which the player must dodge obstacles as they automatically and continuously scroll onto the screen, with the simple goal of not crashing into anything for as long as possible. When these games offer [[ExcusePlot any sort of context]] as to why the player character can't slow down or stop, it's usually framed as an EscapeSequence.
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7A game in this genre is essentially one big AutoScrollingLevel. In most cases the player character's position is fixed in the dimension in which the playfield scrolls, and the player controls movement in the other dimension(s). For example, in a 2D game with the screen constantly scrolling right, the player character doesn't move left or right and instead stays towards the left side of the screen, with the player controlling up-and-down movement only. The fixed scrolling typically leads to DifficultyByAcceleration. Furthermore, every run entails a sequence of [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels randomly generated obstacles]], so the player must rely on sheer reflexes and more than a little luck.
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9By design these games are {{Endless Game}}s; the player never actually "wins", and instead the long-term goal is simply to [[ScoringPoints earn a better high score]]. Many of these games also let the player collect virtual currency during each run, offering enhancements (consumable or permanent) that improve chances of a better score during the next run.
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11Most games in this genre are WebGames or {{Mobile Phone Game}}s. Some started on one platform and expanded to the other through porting.
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13Compare FailureIsTheOnlyOption. See also RatchetScrolling, where the player can backtrack only a very short distance, if at all. When a PlatformGame adopts this kind of gameplay for a level, it's often MinecartMadness.
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15----
16
17!!Examples:
18[[index]]
19* ''VideoGame/TenMillion'' combines this with RPG elements and {{Match Three Game}}play.
20* ''VideoGame/AgentDash'' ([[http://www.fullfat.com/games/agent-dash/ link here]]), in which a spy infiltrates secret bases by navigating traps at top speed.
21* ''VideoGame/AltosAdventure'' is an endless snowboarding game.
22* Balloon Trip mode in ''VideoGame/BalloonFight'' is about dodging in an endless, fixed-scrolling level, though the player can move freely in both dimensions.
23* ''VideoGame/BamBamDash'' is a side-scrolling platformer starring a cartoon caveman.
24* ''VideoGame/BananaKong'' is about a gorilla named Kong who runs and swims around looking for bananas.
25* ''VideoGame/{{Barnstorming}}'', the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnstorming_(video_game) classic]] Platform/Atari2600 game, is an UrExample.
26* Several games starring VideoGame/BarrySteakfries:
27** ''VideoGame/JetpackJoyride'' -- run through an EndlessCorridor of science laboratory, using the JetPack to avoid obstacles.
28** ''VideoGame/JetpackJoyride2'' relegates "Endless" part to a seperate game mode. Main game has a set of levels that reqire getting enough score and defeating a boss to advance further.
29** ''VideoGame/MonsterDash'' -- run through scenic locales and blast the stock movie monsters that call those places home.
30* The gameplay of the console versions of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse 2'' mostly consists of this.
31* Although the main acts of ''VideoGame/BendyInNightmareRun'' can be won by defeating the boss, the Nightmare levels are these.
32* ''VideoGame/BuddyAndMe'' has an {{expy}} of Falkor from ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'' flying along beside you and helping you out as you run along.
33* ''VideoGame/{{Canabalt}}'' is one of the more popular contemporary examples.
34* ''VideoGame/CaveRunner'' and its 3D version involve collecting coins while avoiding monsters and obstacles.
35* ''VideoGame/ChopChopRunner'' ([[http://gamerizon.com/games/chop-chop-runner link here]]) -- as a cartoon ninja out to save a princess, you must "Run, Jump, Fight!"
36* ''VideoGame/ClayJam'': The Monster Love mode loops infinitely, with you rolling the pebble continuously and only ending if the red clay wall catches up with you.
37* ''Videogame/CookieRun'' has multiple gamechanging variants such as character choices, pet abilities, and equipment, to name a few.
38* ''VideoGame/CorridorZ'' is set in a zombie-infested HighSchool and involves a jock, a cheerleader, and a soldier running down hallways pursued by undead.
39* ''VideoGame/CrashOnTheRun'' is set in the Crash Bandicoot universe, and has a slightly more complex gameplay loop than your average endless runner.
40* ''VideoGame/CubeRunner'' is a web and mobile game with a third-person perspective and a triangular craft avoiding cubes in alternating random and organized patterns.
41* ''VideoGame/DinosaurGame'' is a browser game built into Website/{{Google}} Chrome where you control a T. Rex that's always running from left to right, jumping to avoid cacti and pterosaurs and gradually speeding up the longer you play. It turns out that the game was designed to run for 17 ''million'' real-time years, referencing how long the T. Rex existed before it went extinct.
42* ''VideoGame/DoublePugSwitch'' has you controlling a pug who's always running forward. You can make him avoid obstacles by jumping and swapping between dimensions.
43* ''VideoGame/EdgeSurf'', which is similar to ''VideoGame/SkiFree'' but there's a squid chasing you and you're surfing down an endless sea.
44* ''VideoGame/EpicCoaster'', which is about a rollercoaster jumping through endless platforms.
45* ''VideoGame/FallingFred'' and ''Super Falling Fred'', which are about endless vertical freefall through blades, spikes, and other deadly obstacles.
46** A more traditional endless runners, ''Running Fred'' and ''Skiing Fred'' were made in following years.
47* ''VideoGame/FantasyXRunners'' is a 2D endless side scroller, that also allows your characters to attack creatures as they pass by.
48* ''VideoGame/FastFood'' on the Platform/Atari2600. Move to catch the food as it flies by -- but dodge the purple pickles.
49* ''VideoGame/FearLess'' involves a small girl fighting monsters and jumping over obstacles while trying to escape the Grim Reaper.
50* ''VideoGame/FlappyBird'' is one of the most challenging examples in terms of how long the average run lasts.
51* ''VideoGame/GoodDogs'' ([[https://twitter.com/GoodDogsGame link here]]), where you play as a dog running through a park collecting bones.
52* ''[[VideoGame/ProtectMeKnight Gotta Protectors: Amazon's Running Diet]]'', in which players play as the Amazon from ''Gotta Protectors'' exercising by running through the plains collecting cups of water while avoid pieces of cake. Made in celebration of the series' third anniversary.
53* ''VideoGame/GravityGuy'' ([[http://www.miniclip.com/games/gravity-guy/en/ link here]]) is about navigating block platforms with the power of reversing gravity.
54* ''VideoGame/GrimJoggers'' ([[http://www.grimjoggers.com/ link here]]), in which a queue of joggers jumps past spikes, bears, aliens, bombs, and other nasty things in a ghoulish wasteland.
55* ''VideoGame/HelicopterGame'' ([[http://www.helicopter-game.org/ link here]]) or ''VideoGame/HelicopterFlashGames'' ([[http://helicopterflashgames.com/ link here]]) is likely the modern archetype of this genre. Ascend and descend to dodge the green walls, and that's all you have to do.
56* ''VideoGame/HugoTrollRace'' has Hugo drive a trolley to dodge obstacles and hopefully rescue Hugolina.
57* ''[[VideoGame/IMustRun I Must Run!]]'' ([[http://game-lion.net/imustrun/ link here]]) I have only 24 hours to escape prison and rescue my wife!
58* ''[[VideoGame/IntoTheDead Into the Dead]]'' ([[http://www.intothedead.com/ link here]]) is a rare first-person example. Weave left and right past endless zombie hordes -- and occasionally shoot them out of your way.
59* ''VideoGame/JoumeeTheHedgehog'' is a not-[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] hedgehog game that's [[SideView viewed from the side]].
60* The infamous ''VideoGame/MemeRun'' on the Wii U. The gameplay was on par with circa-2007 flash browser games, and the art design was a mashup of what you would find on r/montageparodies. As far as we can tell it was a StylisticSuck test to see what kind of material would get through Nintendo's certification process (it stayed on the store for about three months before getting removed for copyright violations).
61* ''VideoGame/MinionRush'' -- A third-person variant that has a ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' theme.
62* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'': The Platform/{{iOS}} game features this type of gameplay.
63* One minigame in ''VideoGame/MrHoppsPlayhouse2'' has Esther jumping and ducking from obstacles as Mr. Hopp chases her.
64* ''VideoGame/MuseDash'' combines this genre with the RhythmGame as enemies are defeated, projectile attacks from bosses are deflected, and obstacles are dodged to the beat of the music. Unlike most other examples, the gameplay is not endless, but tied to the length of the songs.
65* ''[[VideoGame/BlackMirrorNohzdyve Nohzdyve]]'' simple falling and collecting points game.
66* ''VideoGame/OneEpicKnight'' ([[http://oneepicknight.com/ link here]]) has almost as much of smashing obstacles as avoiding them!
67* ''VideoGame/{{ONGEKI}}'' has an element of this; you use an analog horizontal joystick to dodge bullets and keep your team on the twisting track as you automatically travel down it. Going off-track won't damage you like bullets do, but you will become unable to hit notes until you get back on course.
68* ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'' has a mobile game with this style of gameplay.
69* ''VideoGame/RaceTheSun'' -- A third-person variant at intensely-high speed, with the sunset serving as the player's timer.
70* ''VideoGame/RadicalRappelling'', which is about hopping down the mountain while avoiding spikes and preforming various tricks.
71* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankBeforeTheNexus'', starring the eponymous duo Franchise/RatchetAndClank.
72* ''VideoGame/{{Redungeon}}'' - a top-down game with procedurally generated levels that doesn't auto-scroll, but will have monsters automatically catch up to the player if they spend too long on a screen without advancing.
73* ''VideoGame/RedDwarfXIITheGame'' features a "Quick Play" mode where the player must navigate their character through different endless environments whilst dodging obstacles and threats.
74* ''VideoGame/RoadRunner'' - an arcade game based on the iconic series of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons.
75* ''VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttack'' gives you three attempts and then awards you a final score.
76** ''VideoGame/RobotUnicornAttackHeavyMetalEdition''
77* ''VideoGame/RodeoStampedeSkyZooSafari'', from the same publishers as ''VideoGame/CrossyRoad''.
78* ''VideoGame/{{Run}}'' - a variant combined with GravityScrew. [[RecycledInSpace In space.]]
79* ''[[VideoGame/RunElephantRun Run, Elephant, Run!]]'' ([[http://armorgames.com/play/3102/run-elephant-run link here]]): the elephant from ''VideoGame/ThisIsTheOnlyLevel'' and ''VideoGame/AchievementUnlocked'' trying to run from Hollywood back to Africa.
80* ''VideoGame/RunForrestRun'': Literature/ForrestGump on his morning run.
81* ''[[VideoGame/RunLikeHell Run Like Hell!]]'' ([[http://www.mass-creation.com/game_rlh.html link here]]) Otherwise the cannibal island natives will catch you!
82* ''VideoGame/RunNGun'' inverts the typical "escape" scenario by having the player character chasing monsters.
83* ''[[VideoGame/RunSackboyRun Run Sackboy! Run!]]'' is a game for mobile and Platform/PlaystationVita starring the hero of ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet''.
84* ''VideoGame/SayNoMore'' has an intern running continuously through an office, but the only thing he has to dodge is outlandish requests from co-workers, all by firing a simply "No!".
85* ''VideoGame/SayonaraWildHearts'' - a story-driven RhythmGame where the heroine is generally riding motorcycles, but can also be engaged in other kinds of high-speed chases that all function similarly.
86* ''VideoGame/SkiFree'': Ski down an endless ObstacleSkiCourse until the player get bored or are eaten by the yeti.
87* ''VideoGame/SkiSafari'' ([[http://defiantdev.com/ski-safari.php link here]]) -- race down a snowy mountainside to stay one step ahead of the avalanche that struck your cabin.
88* ''VideoGame/SonicDash'' and ''VideoGame/SonicRunners'', starring Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog.
89* ''VideoGame/SpiderManUnlimited'' is a running game starring characters from ComicBook/SpiderMan.
90* ''VideoGame/SubwaySurfers'' brings the player to various world locales, but it's the same mustached cop and his dog chasing you down for spraying graffiti.
91* ''VideoGame/SuperHexagon'' and its predecessor ''Hexagon'', in a looser sense. You aren't running in a particular direction -- rather, you move around a central object and dodge converging walls -- but the gameplay concept is largely the same. Basically, picture an ERG, but with polar coordinates and wrap-around.
92* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'', featuring the Italian plumber [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]].
93* The PETA parody ''VideoGame/SuperTanookiSkin2D'' subverts this in that there is a win state, but it's still an infinite obstacle course until you accomplish the objective.
94* ''VideoGame/TargetAcquired2016'': A ScienceFiction PlatformGame about a cop chasing down a crook.
95* ''VideoGame/TechnoKittenAdventure'' is best known for its tendency to flood the screen with the ridiculous number of flashing lights.
96* ''VideoGame/TempleRun'', including ''Temple Run 2'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Temple Run: Brave]]'' -- escape from the TempleOfDoom with your stolen idol.
97* ''[[http://theendapp.com/ TheEndApp]]'' -- collect rolls of duct tape throughout a post-apocalyptic cityscape.
98* ''VideoGame/TinyWings'' mixes its 'running' with flying, as gameplay involves timing your movements (glides and dives) to match the terrain below you so you can build up speed and momentum.
99* ''VideoGame/TomenaSanner'' starts out with three sets of traditional levels, but then features an endless mode where you just run as far as possible.
100* ''VideoGame/TriggerKnight'' combines this with RPGElements -- instead of dodging obstacles you fight monsters and buy gear as your character charges past shops. Similar to its sequels VideoGame/FallenLegion and VideoGame/FallenLegionRevenants.
101* ''VideoGame/TurboPug3D'' is a TwoPointFiveD EndlessRunningGame where you can play as either a pug, a cat, or a penguin.
102* ''VideoGame/{{Vector}}'': Set in a post-cyberpunk world with silhouetted graphics. Its sequel features a story that progresses with each completed objective.
103* ''VideoGame/WhaleTrail'' stars Willow the Whale, who escapes from the ocean on a rainbow bridge and must fly through swarms of grumpy storm clouds.
104* The ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}}'' series from ''Wipeout Fusion'' onwards has Zone mode, in which the player pilots a ship with its accelerator always on and which [[DifficultyByAcceleration increases speed over time]], with no way to stop either, and must travel as far as possible around the course. Here, the main obstacles are the course itself, and eventually the player's ship will run out of energy and explode from colliding with the walls. ''Wipeout HD Fury'' has Detonator mode, a spinoff where the player's ship is outfitted with a gun and they shoot mines on the road for points, again traveling at ever-increasing speeds until they ultimately go boom.
105* ''VideoGame/{{Worm}}'' ([[http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.html link here]]) is the earliest UrExample we could find.
106* In ''[[VideoGame/YoshiTouchAndGo Yoshi Touch & Go]]'', the "Marathon" and "Challenge" modes are endless, though slower paced than most examples since the game is designed around higher obstacle density and indirect control over the player character.
107* ''VideoGame/YouMustBuildABoat'': The sequel to ''VideoGame/TenMillion''.
108[[/index]]

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